Author Archives: Greg Peck

2014 Virginia State Horticultural Society Meeting to Meet at the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention in Hershey

Posted on by

The Virginia State Horticultural Society will hold its annual membership meeting at The Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention in Hershey, PA. on Thursday morning at 7:30 a.m. in the Cocoa Suites (lower level). All Virginia fruit producers are encouraged to attend.

Mark Sutphin (VCE-Frederick County) has obtained approval for Virginia private pesticide applicator re-certification credits (full 90 and partial 91) for meeting attendees. The approval is for Categories: 1-A, 3-A, 4, 10, and 60. Once at the conference, please seek out Mark for paperwork and instructions (due to the size of the conference the process is more complex than usual). To receive recertification credits, paperwork must be completed at both the beginning and the end of the conference.

Mark will spend much of the conference at the Virginia State Horticultural Society table. If you cannot find him there, you may track him down on his cell phone 540.398.8148.

Feel free to contact Mark with any questions regarding Virginia pesticide applicator re-certification at the MAFVC.

The full program for the MAFVC can be viewed at their website.

2014 Winter Fruit School Meeting Dates

Posted on by

The 2014 Winter Fruit School dates, times and locations have been set. These in-depth meetings focus on commercial tree-fruit production. The schedule will be similar to the 2013 schedule, with the Patrick-Carroll meeting occurring on Tuesday morning, and the Central Virginia meeting occurring on Wednesday evening. The full list of locations is below, as well as the local contact for each meeting.

Presentations by Extension Specialists will include, woolly apple aphid control, minimizing pre-harvest fruit drop in apple orchards, thrips management in orchards, a spotted winged drosophila update, and disease management updates with a focus on Glomerella leaf spot. Additional programing is still being developed at each location and more details are forthcoming. Pesticide recertification credits are usually available, check with the local contact for more information.

Date Location

Registration opens

 Local Contact Contact’s phone number Contact’s email
Tuesday
February 11

Program

 Prime Sirloin
1018 Rockford Street
Mt. Airy, NC 27030

9:00AM

 Steve Pottorff 276-730-3113 pottorff@vt.edu
Wednesday
February 12

Program

 Brambleton Center
3738 Brambleton Avenue SW
Roanoke, VA 24018

8:00AM

 Andy Allen 540-864-5812 geallen@vt.edu
Wednesday
February 12

Program

 The Nelson Center
8445 Thomas Nelson Highway
Lovingston, VA 22949

4:00PM

 Michael Lachance 434-263-4035 lachance@vt.edu
Thursday
February 13

Program

 Grave’s Mountain Lodge
Rte. 670
Syria, VA 22743

8:30AM

 Kenner Love 540-675-3619 klove@vt.edu
Friday
February 14

Program

 Best Western
Lee Jackson Banquet Hall
711 Millwood Ave.
Winchester, VA 22601

8:00AM

 Mark Sutphin &
Marsha Wright		 540-665-5699 mark.sutphin@vt.edu mawrigh4@vt.edu

Fruit Bud Damage from Cold Temperatures

Posted on by

Cold temperatures in the winter, such as we’re experiencing over the next couple-few days with a polar vortex can cause damage to plants, people, and livestock. Tmin forecast 1_6_14_midatlanticAt this time of year, fruit buds on our main tree-fruit crops (apple, peach, cherry, and pear) are still in their winter dormant state (endodormancy). During endodormancy, buds have a very low water content and tend to be more cold tolerant. However, absolute lows are not the only factor to consider. If warm temperatures precede a cold spell, then tree buds tend to be less cold tolerant and are more likely to be damaged. There is also considerable variation amongst species and cultivars. For this reason, critical temperature thresholds, like those developed for spring frost damage to flower buds, are not well defined. However, from an ongoing discussion among pomologists in the Eastern part of North America, the consensus seems to be that peach flower buds start to be damaged at -10F and complete crop failure and/or tree loss occurs at -20F. Cherry and plum flower buds are slightly more cold hardy than peach buds and damage will likely occur at -20F. Apple flower buds can withstand temperatures down to -25F. As of now, the forecast for most of Virginia does not show temperatures dropping below 0F. Hopefully, this means that fruit buds in Virginia will not be damaged by the polar vortex.

Plants are not affected by wind chills (plants do not lose heat to the wind). But people and animals will be impacted by the heat loss from the high winds that are accompanying this storm. I’ve seen several wind chill forecasts for Tuesday in the -10 to -20F range. If your pruning crews are outside, make sure they are dressed appropriately for the cold. Also, make sure that your farm animals at least have shelter from the wind. For more information on protecting farm animals and equipment from the cold, read Cory Childs’ (VCE-Warren Co.) blog post from earlier today.

 

 

Commercial Fruit Tree Production Workshop in Southside–December 11-12

Posted on by

Drs. Yoder, Bergh, Derr, and Peck will be joining several VCE agents to present information on fruit tree production for the Southeastern regions of the Commonwealth. The target audience is new and existing commercial growers. Please see additional information below.

When:     December 11-12, 2013

Where:  Wednesday, Southern Piedmont AREC, Blackstone, VA

Thursday, 278 Florida Road, Crewe, VA

Time:     Wednesday, 8:00 am- 4:45 pm

Thursday, 11:00 am- 12:30 pm

Cost:     $10.00 per person- Lunch included

RSVP and Return Registration Fee by:  November 29, 2013 to Nottoway Extension Office- P.O. Box 22 Nottoway, VA 23955.    434-645-9315

Please visit http://www.arec.vaes.vt.edu/southern-piedmont/contact/ for complete directions to SPAREC

Harvest Maturity Report for October 8

Posted on by

On Tuesday (October 8), we sampled York, Cripps Pink (Pink Lady), Winesap, Granny Smith, Stayman, Fuji (BC2), and Suncrisp (which had ReTain and NAA applications) apples from trees on or near the AREC for this week’s maturity report. Despite the summer-like weather late last week and over the weekend, apples are continuing to ripen slowly. Fuji, Suncrisp, and Granny Smith are all showing starch degradation, (though ethylene levels remain low) and should be picked soon. We starting picking our Fuji (BC2) trees today.

York harvest started for some growers last week, and I suspect many growers in the Northern Shenandoah Valley are focusing their attention to this variety right now. The Yorks that we tested (Ramey’s and Imperial) were very firm (19.9 lbs), have excellent color (84% blush), a fair amount of sugar (12.1 Brix), and only showed a minimal amount of starch degradation (~1.3).

Pink Lady apples are already showing high sugar levels (13.1 Brix), but they are still quite starchy and varietal flavor hasn’t started to develop. I’d say they are still a couple-few weeks away from harvest.

The remnants of hurricane/tropical storm Karen is predicted to hit the region tonight, and for the first time this harvest season we are forecasted to have a prolonged stretch of rainy weather. Although the rains might slow down harvest activities, it will help to size up the later cultivars.

Click the on the link at the end of this sentence to download a copy of the 2013 Oct 8 Maturity Report.

Harvest Maturity Report for September 23

Posted on by

On Monday, September 23, we collected Rome, York, Fuji, and Stayman apple samples for this week’s maturity report (2013 Sept 23 Maturity Report). The weather in the northern Shenandoah Valley will remain cool, with clear sunny days for the next week. These conditions are continuing to promote excellent fruit color and varietal flavors, while also extending the harvest window for many cultivars.

Of the fruit we measured this week, Rome harvest should be starting soon (starch = 3.3; ethylene <1.0), while the main Fuji harvest crop will probably not be ready to pick until next week at the earliest. Staymans and Yorks still have very high firmness (>18.8 and 23.6 lbs, respectively) and very low ethylene (<1.0) and starch degradation (=1), indicating that it will be several more weeks until they will be physiologically mature enough for harvest.

Golden Delicious harvest is concluding for many growers, though fruit that is still on the trees has maintained a high level of quality. For a pre-harvest drop test, we did a large Red Delicious sampling late last week, and we will do another one next week. Red Delicious harvest is still ongoing, with many strains still viable for long-term storage and SmartFresh applications.

As always, due to location, rootstock, strain, and environmental factors, fruit in your orchards may be at a different maturity than the fruit at the AREC. For this reason, you should be checking blocks several times a week to ensure that you harvest at your desired maturity. More information about harvest maturity indices can be found at my post from last year.

Harvest Maturity Report for September 16

Posted on by

On Monday, September 16, we harvested Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Empire, Idared, Rome, and Fuji BC2 (a late ripening strain) for this week’s Maturity Report. Based on the apples that we harvested at the AREC, Goldens are moving past the point where they should be harvested for long term storage. Reds are still OK for long term storage, but a few of the Red Delicious apples that we tested had very advanced maturity. Empires are eating well and should be picked soon. Earlier ripening blocks of Romes and Idared should be checked as they are starting to ripen at the AREC. We’re looking to start our Fuji harvest late next week.

Besides for a chance of showers over the weekend, the forecast for the next week continues  to look excellent for harvest.

Harvest Maturity Report for September 10

Posted on by

We harvested apples on September 10 for this week’s harvest maturity. Due to our annual Field Day and running samples for a pre-harvest drop trial, we only ran Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, and two strains of Fuji. From these data and my observations from around Frederick County, it appears that sugar content (soluble solids) are starting to come up in Golden Delicious, while starch degradation is still optimal for long term storage. Red Delicious are starting to ripen, and some early coloring strains are already being picked. I expect Red Delicious harvest to be in full swing by early next week. Early strains of Fuji are ready for harvest, but later strains still have several weeks before they will be ready for harvest. On Thursday, we’ll be harvesting Daybreak Fuji from a tall spindle planting and Rising Sun Fuji from a rootstock trial.

I expect the heat over these past couple-few days will advance apple ripening faster than what we have seen up until this time, so keep checking blocks that are near to your ideal harvest maturity. The heat is forecasted to break on Friday after which we’ll return to more moderate temperatures for at least seven days.

Click the link to the right for this week’s harvest maturity evaluation data.

Harvest Maturity Report for September 3

Posted on by

We collected fruit on Tuesday for this week’s maturity testing. Most growers in the Winchester area are finished or near to finishing Honeycrisp and Galas and moving into the main cultivars. Golden Delicious harvest has started, but the fruit has not advanced in maturity very much over the past week and is still very variable based on location and planting system. Compared to last week, the Goldens have lost firmness, but not starch and they have not increased in soluble solids or ethylene. Most Red Delicious strains are still at least a week away from early harvests for long term storage. This is despite the deep red colors that are developing. Picking of early strains of Fuji is underway, and like the other red skinned cultivars appear to have very nice color and size this year. Empires are starting to ripen and can probably be picked sometime in the next week, particularly if the fruit is going to be stored for any significant amount of time.

Over the next week, we are going to remain in a relatively dry weather pattern with warm but not hot days in the 80s and cool nights in the 50s and 60s. These conditions are ideal for developing color on red skinned cultivars and allowing the fruit to hang on the tree until ideal maturity and flavor has developed. We can only hope that these conditions will continue for several more weeks.

Click on the below link to download a pdf of the complete harvest maturity report for September 3, 2013.

2013 Sept 3 Maturity Report

Annual End-of-August Maturity Testing

Posted on by

This it the 28th year that researchers at the Alson H. Smith, Jr. AREC have recorded Golden Delicious and Red Delicious apple maturity data from orchards based in and around Winchester. Including 2013, data for Empire has been taken for twelve years and Gala for six years. In recent years, we have also added other commercially important cultivars to the analyses in order to generate long term averages. These data provide an interesting insight into the current season’s harvest, and can help growers make decisions on when to pick different blocks.

As discussed in a previous post, bloom date was about three weeks later than in 2012 and fairly close to the long-term averages. This should mean that harvest dates will be relatively “normal” or at least more similar to harvest dates in the late 1990’s through early 2000’s than they have been in the last several years.

As of this week, most growers in the Northern Shenandoah region are finishing up picking Ginger Golds, and have started picking Gala and Honeycrisp. Some growers in Central Virginia are finishing Gala and starting with Golden Delicious.

Many of the Golden Delicious blocks that we tested this week had very nice fruit finish, with minimal russet. Golden Delicious maturity was quite variable in the blocks that we tested, and it appears that some blocks will be ready to harvest within the next week, while others are probably 7-10 days away from being ready to harvest. The use of ReTain by some growers may explain some of this variability.

With the cool nights that we have experienced in August, red skinned cultivars have developed better than average color. However, be sure to check the starch and sugar levels before picking to be sure that the apples are mature enough to pick. Many Red Delicious apples that we tested this week had great color but very little starch degradation and soluble solids were only at 9-10 Brix.

Below are the data from this year’s end-of-August apple maturity sampling. In each year, the samples were taken around August 25 (August 26 this year) and consist of apples from the AREC and a few local growers. Thanks to Dave Carbaugh and Abby Kowalski for collecting and testing the fruit. Please refer to my post from last year if you need help interpreting the different maturity indices. You can also download a pdf of the 2013 Annual August Maturity Report.

Golden Delicious Maturity Report 1986-2013

 

  
Year

Background Color (1-4)*

Firmness (lbs)

Soluble Solids (ºBrix)

Starch-iodine Index (1-8)**

Ethylene (ppm)

Bloom Date
1986

2.2

19.5

12.7
1987

20.0

12.2
1988

18.6

11.0

1.5
1989

17.7

10.3

2.0
1990

18.0

10.5

1.6
1991

1.8

19.7

12.0

2.1
1992

1.8

20.1

12.0

1.6
1993

1.9

19.8

11.6

1.5
1994

2.3

19.8

12.0

1.7
1995

0.9

18.8

10.9

2.1
1996

2.9

19.6

11.2

2.9
1997

2.0

21.8

11.7

2.0
1998

2.5

19.2

12.2

2.1
1999

1.9

20.3

11.7

1.4
2000

1.8

17.5

11.9

2.5
2001

1.9

20.1

11.0

1.4
2002

2.2

21.2

11.4

2.1
2003

2.6

20.3

11.1

1.2
2004

2.3

18.2

12.3

2.0
2005

1.8

20.1

11.4

1.7
2006

1.9

18.5

12.4

1.8
2007

1.6

18.0

12.3

1.6
2008

2.1

18.3

12.9

1.6

22-23 Apr
2009

1.8

17.2

12.4

1.7

22-Apr
2010

1.6

18.6

12.9

1.4

13-Apr
2011

2.1

20.1

12.9

1.2

20-Apr
2012

2.5

18.5

13.0

1.3

0.00

2-Apr
2013

2.2

18.3

11.9

2.2

0.17

25-Apr
Mean

2.0

19.2

11.9

1.8

17-Apr
Max

2.9

21.8

13.0

2.9

25-Apr
Min

0.9

17.2

10.3

1.2

2-Apr
* 1 = green, 2 = light green, 3 = yellowish green, 4 = yellow.
** 1 = 100% starch, 5 = 60% starch, 8 = 0% starch.

Red Delicious Maturity Report 1986-2013
Year

Red Color (%)

Firmness (lbs)

Soluble Solids (ºBrix)

Starch-iodine Index (1-8)*

Ethylene (ppm)

Bloom Date

1986

72.0

18.8

11.2
1987

68.0

19.8

10.8
1988

54.0

18.4

10.0

1.6
1989

69.0

18.6

8.7

1.6
1990

73.0

18.1

8.9

1.5
1991

69.0

18.8

10.4

1.6
1992

76.0

20.8

10.2

1.3
1993

68.0

21.7

9.5

1.7
1994

68.0

19.7

9.5

1.9
1995

68.0

19.2

9.1

1.6
1996

62.5

19.3

8.9

2.0

25-Apr
1997

66.7

22.4

9.4

1.2

25-Apr
1998

81.9

19.3

9.9

2.5

15-Apr
1999

65.5

19.8

10.5

1.9

28-Apr
2000

87.4

16.2

9.6

2.3

11-Apr
2001

61.0

20.5

8.3

1.8

28-Apr
2002

60.2

21.4

9.4

2.1

22-Apr
2003

58.4

20.4

8.5

1.9

22-Apr
2004

88.2

16.7

10.0

2.3

20-Apr
2005

73.7

18.7

9.2

2.0

24-Apr
2006

63.8

18.7

10.7

2.0

16-Apr
2007

81.1

18.1

11.0

1.7

22-Apr
2008

86.6

18.1

9.4

2.0

22-Apr
2009

79.2

17.5

10.2

1.9

24-Apr
2010

65.9

18.2

11.5

1.7

8-Apr
2011

67.5

19.8

11.5

2.1

21-Apr
2012

92.1

18.2

11.9

1.8

0.03

29-30-Mar
2013

91.3

18.4

9.8

2.0

0.25

23-Apr
Mean

72.1

19.1

9.9

1.8

0.1

20-Apr
Max

92.1

22.4

11.9

2.5

0.3

28-Apr
Min

54.0

16.2

8.3

1.2

0.0

29-30-Mar
* 1 = 100% starch, 5 = 60% starch, 8 = 0% starch.

 

Gala Maturity Report 2008-2013

 

  
Year

Red Color (%)

Firmness (lbs)

Soluble Solids (ºBrix)

Starch-iodine Index (1-8)*

Ethylene (ppm)

Bloom Date

2008

93.5

18.3

13.6

5.6

21-Apr
2009

86.8

17.5

13.4

4.5

22-Apr
2010

78.0

16.3

14.9

6.4

9-Apr
2011

77.5

19.4

13.7

4.9

19-Apr
2012

91.1

18.0

13.2

4.1

7.13

29-30-Mar
2013

91.1

18.0

12.4

5.4

1.71

23-Apr
Mean

86.3

17.9

13.5

5.2

4.4

15-Apr
Max

93.5

19.4

14.9

6.4

7.1

23-Apr
Min

77.5

16.3

12.4

4.1

1.7

29-30-Mar
* 1 = 100% starch, 5 = 60% starch, 8 = 0% starch.

 

Empire Maturity Report 2002-2013

 

  
Year

Red Color (%)

Firmness (lbs)

Soluble Solids (ºBrix)

Starch-iodine Index (1-8)*

Ethylene (ppm)

Bloom Date
2002

42.0

25.3

10.4

2.1
2003

60.4

21.9

9.6

1.7
2004

78.1

17.2

10.9

2.2
2005

55.3

20.3

10.1

1.9
2006

46.0

19.7

10.7

2.1
2007

64.0

17.9

10.6

2.1
2008

66.3

18.2

11.0

2.1

21-Apr
2009

52.4

16.6

10.9

1.1

20-Apr
2010

44.3

18.1

10.7

1.8
2011

49.8

19.7

11.2

2.0
2012

85.9

19.2

12.5

1.7

0.01

29-Mar
2013

63.0

18.6

10.6

1.5

0.04

21-Apr
Mean

59.0

19.4

10.8

1.9

0.0

15-Apr
Max

85.9

25.3

12.5

2.2

0.0

21-Apr
Min

42.0

16.6

9.6

1.1

0.0

29-Mar
* 1 = 100% starch, 5 = 60% starch, 8 = 0% starch.

 

Maturity Report – Other Varieties 2011
Cultivar

Red Color (%)

Firmness (lbs)

Soluble Solids (ºBrix)

Starch-iodine Index (1-8)*
HoneyCrisp

66.2

15.8

13.0

5.1
Idared

17.0

19.9

11.1

1.2
* 1 = 100% starch, 5 = 60% starch, 8 = 0% starch.

Maturity Report – Other Varieties 2012

 

 
Cultivar

Red Color (%)

Firmness (lbs)

Soluble Solids (ºBrix)

Starch-iodine Index (1-8)*

Ethylene (ppm)

Bloom Date
Fuji Early Strain

65.5

16.7

14.7

4.1

0.03

5-Apr
Fuji Late Strain

26.0

20.9

12.1

2.1

0.03

5-Apr
Idared

36.7

17.0

12.3

1.3

0.00

2-Apr
Rome

39.8

22.5

12.3

1.5

.

12-Apr
York

41.8

22.4

10.7

1.0

0.00

3-Apr
* 1 = 100% starch, 5 = 60% starch, 8 = 0% starch.

Maturity Report – Other Varieties 2013

 

 
Cultivar (number of orchards tested)

Red Color (%)

Firmness (lbs)

Soluble Solids (ºBrix)

Starch-iodine Index (1-8)*

Ethylene (ppm)

Bloom Date
Cameo (1)

33.5

18.1

10.2

1.7

0.53

N/A
Fuji Early Strain (2)

80.3

16.3

13.6

4.3

1.51

25-Apr
Ginger Gold (2)

3.9**

16.0

12.8

3.5

0.00

24-Apr
Idared (6)

41.1

17.5

10.1

1.2

0.12

23-Apr
Jonagold (1)

35.5

18.7

11.8

2.8

0.00

23-Apr
Rome (1)

21.2

24.6

9.2

2

0.00

1-May
York (1)

53.5

24.4

9.4

1

1.20

25-Apr
* 1 = 100% starch, 5 = 60% starch, 8 = 0% starch.
** 1 = green, 2 = light green, 3 = yellowish green, 4 = yellow.